However, he soon returned to the group format, forming a band named Five Hand Reel and issuing another eponymously titled effort that same year; over the next two years, Gaughan issued four more records - two solo releases (1977's "Copper and Brass" and 1978's "Gaughan") as well as two more Five Hand Reel outings (1977's "For a' That" and 1978's "Earl o' Moray").
In the late '70s and early '80s, he worked as a critic and columnist with Folk Review magazine, and also acted as a member of the 7:84 Theatre Company; after a three-year absence from the studio, Gaughan also returned to regular musical duty with the release of 1981's "Handful of Earth". "A Different Kind of Love Song" followed in 1983, and in 1985 he released "Live in Edinburgh"; "True and Bold" appeared a year later. After 1988's "Call It Freedom", Gaughan again retreated from view; much of his time was devoted to his increasing interest in computer technology, and he later earned notice for his skills as a programmer and web designer.
Finally, he formed a new band, the short-lived Clan Alba, who disbanded after releasing their 1995 self-titled debut; the solo "Sail On" arrived the next year, followed in 1998 by "Redwood Cathedral". Gaughan's subsequent solo releases have included 2001's "Outlaws & Dreamers" and 2006's "Lucky for Some".
"Handful Of Earth" is a fine album, released in 1981. "Song for Ireland" is a classic. The album features Brian McNeill, Phil Cunningham, and Stewart Isbister. Voted Album of the Decade of the '80s by Folk Roots magazine, "A Handful of Earth" is Gaughan's best blend of traditional and contemporary songs.
This mixture of love songs, odes of parting and political commentaries such as Worker’s Song and World Turned Upside Down is Gaughan’s most complex and emotionally penetrating album, and has come to be recognised as a masterwork.
Tracklist:
1 Erin-Go-Bragh
2 Now Westlin’ Winds
3 Craigie Hill
4 World Turned Upside Down
5 The Snows They Melt the Soonest
6 Lough Erne / First Kiss at Parting
7 Scojun Waltz / Randers Hopsa
8 Song for Ireland
9 Workers’ Song
10 Both Sides the Tweed
Dick Gaughan - Handful Of Earth (1981)
(320 kbps, front cover included)
9 Kommentare:
I wonder why a man born with a fine name like Richard Peter would want to change it to Dick Gaughan?
Whatever, I look forward to listening to this. Many thanks for posting it.
According to Gaughan's website, his biography reads, in part, as follows:
Well, firstly, and most importantly, Dick Gaughan is a Scot, from Leith on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Leith, once a separate port, has been part of Edinburgh since the 1920s but has retained a distinct identity.
Born Richard Peter, the eldest of three children, in 1948. By a sheer accident of timing, this event took place in Rottonrow Maternity Hospital in Glasgow while his father was temporarily working as an engine driver at Colville's Steelworks and so Gaughan spent the first year and a half of his life in Rutherglen, a period of which he swears he has no recollection at all, not even of being knocked down by a bus. ... His father, Dick, was born in Leith of an Irish father, also called Dick (Gaughan's grandfather) an Irish speaker and fiddle player, from Doohoma in Iorrais, Co Mayo."
In other words, he was born Richard Peter Gaughan but the writer referred to him by his first and middle name which is common with Irish and Scottish writers but could certainly be confusing to one unfamiliar with the style. No one asked me but if he had been actually born Richard with Peter as a surname, I suspect the name Dick Peter (two euphemisms for penis in English) would be more appropriate for a porn star and compel anyone seeking a public career to change it.
This was the first Gaughan album I bought some thirty two years ago. As a third-generation American of Irish descent, I found Gaughan's version of "Song For Ireland" to be the best. The song captures the sadness of emigration as many Irish "asked for more" than a poor, colonized country could provide. For me, the song evokes the feelings my great-grandmother felt about leaving all that was familiar to her at age twelve. Wanting to return home because she disliked the United States, she could not tolerate another passage. She had come over in steerage, became very ill, and was let off the ship to recuperate with relatives in Boston, rather than Baltimore which was her destination. On the other hand, my other relatives, including her husband, who emigrated never looked back and were relieved to emigrate in the bleak decades after the Great Famine and embrace life in the United States despite the intense bigotry they encountered in Boston. Unlike my great-grandmother, they left their language and customs behind under the erroneous assumption that they and their children would be able to assimilate better in their new country. Still, my great-grandmother was able to thwart her husband's suppression of all things Irish in the home, covertly taught her children Irish, and also instilled in them an ambivalence about the materialism characteristic of American culture. The song has always been and is poignant and haunting to me. Gaughan also sings a wonderful (for me, the definitive) version of Robert Burns' "Westlin' Winds." All in all, I think this is the most consistent and best album Gaughan has made; however, none of his recordings disappoint. Thanks so much for providing this one. Gaughan is a principled, intelligent, and remarkably talented man whom I admire greatly and I have always thought that his work should have a wider audience than it does.
Thank a lot for the bio and the details referring to his name. And for your thoughts about this wonderful album. Greetings!
Yes, many thanks for the bio and info about the man's name. It is a fine album. I have Scottish parents and lived there at times so I have a fondness for the music.
Thanks for your feedback, Bob Mac!
thank you for this one
You are welcome!
Amazing! Thank-you!
You are welcome, all the best!
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